Another Class Action Lawsuit against Apple?

Slashdot had an article today about another class action lawsuit being filed against Apple for monopolistic business practices, because the iPod doesn't play music in Microsoft's proprietary WMA format. I think that this lawsuit is absurd!

If I buy an iPod, I can use it with a Macintosh or a Windows PC using the free iTunes software from Apple, which works on either platform, in exactly the same way. Apple has even switched the connection that the iPod uses from its own FireWire to USB, in part I'm sure to make it more easily accessible on the PC, where FireWire ports are more rare.

With the iPod, I have the option to "rip" music from CD's that I own or buy, or the choice to purchase music through the iTunes store. I can also download music in the industry standard MP3 format from a variety of other online music services. Apple does not make it mandatory to even use the iTunes music store. If the iTunes music store were the only way to get content for the iPod, then that would be a monopoly. Apple also offers UNenrypted versions of much of the content on iTunes store, so its possible to purchase music from the iTunes store that you could play on other players as well as the iPod. The iPod can play music in either MP3 format, or a format called AAC, which is part of the MPEG4 standard used for DVDs. AAC is an industry standard format used by other manufacturers.

In my view, I have plenty of affordable options for acquiring and loading content into an iPod. If I were to choose a competing product, like a Microsoft Zune, for instance, I would be limited to use Microsoft's software on a Microsoft Windows computer, because they don't offer any support for any other platforms.

Apple doesn't claim to provide support for all formats, or for WMA specificially, so there isn't any misrepresentation about features or capabilities. Apple's product does what Apple says it will do. If you already have music that you have purchased in WMA format, and need a compatible player, then you should probably pick a different portable music player.

Not that Microsoft will guarantee compatibility even with their own products, of course! Microsoft's initial format for "Digital Rights Management" protected media was a system ironically called "Plays for Sure." When the Zune was introduced in 2006, it used a different format! The Zune uses "WMA-DRM" instead of "Plays for Sure" so if Windows users had previously purchased encrypted music from Microsoft's own "URGE" online store before the Zune, it couldn't be played on the Zune. How's that for brand loyalty, customer service and support?

Given that Apple's iPod accounts for 70-90% of the portable music player market, it might seem more appropriate for someone to file class action lawsuits against content service providers that don't support the formats that the iPod uses (with either Mac or PC).

Apple's decision to not pay to license technology from a competing company seems like a reasonable business decision to me. In most regards, Apple does a much better job of cross-platform support than other vendors.

This is no different from situations like operating systems and application software that only work on some hardware. Microsoft only offers most of its software for its own operating systems. The products that it DOES offer for Macintosh are much different than their Windows counterparts. Adobe has managed to offer its entire suite of products on both Macintosh and Windows, with the same features. Apple offers not only iTunes and QuickTime for both platforms, but also has its FileMaker products on both platforms, with the same features and file formats.

There are plenty of other cases of intentional incompatibility in consumer products that are much worse than anything that Apple has done with the iPod. Look at any game console for examples. While some older games can be played on newer consoles, there isn't any backwards compatibility at all. All of the accessories like controllers are designed to be incompatible, just to force consumers to have to replace everything with the new system. Most of the new game systems have USB ports, but they use other interfaces for controllers and accessories instead of standardizing so that controllers could be interchangeable between game systems or computers.

The same arguments could be made in the current DVD format wars, where some movies are being released only in Sony's BluRay format, while others are only available in the competing HD-DVD format. Neither format will play on a standard DVD player. Should every vendor be forced to support every standard or format available?

It amazes me that consumers have tolerated bad behavior from companies like Microsoft for decades without whimpering, but are ready to attack Apple at the drop of a pin!